Comment on Circumstances of Washington Post Editorial Dated Mar 8, 2010

Yukihisa Fujita

Member of the House of

Councillors

Office Tel: 3508-8205

At 10:30 am on March 3, 2010, Lee Hockstader, Editorial Writer for the

Washington Post, visited myself (Yukihisa Fujita, member of the House of

Councillors, and Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) International Department

Director General) having made an interview request on the subject of “Japan’s

stance on and shifting attitudes toward immigration” via the Foreign Press

Center, Japan. (original interview request and questions in Japanese available

on request)

1. The requested interview time of one hour was spent discussing the current

situation relating to Japan’s response to immigration and my opinions on this

issue. During the interview Hockstader typed my comments into his laptop

computer, as he had requested. However, once the one hour interview had

ended and Hockstader had closed his laptop, he mentioned as an aside that

he had noticed from my resume that I had raised the issue of the 9/11 terror

attacks in a Diet committee, and asked whether I had some doubts about

this issue. In response, I explained the circumstances that led me to

become involved in the 9/11 issue and pointed out a number of points that

still remained unexplained about the events of that day.

2. In other words, after answering questions on the agreed upon theme for

around one hour, I naturally responded to this question as being separate

from the interview itself.

3. Ms. Fukasawa of the Foreign Press Center, Japan also attended the interview

(DPJ International Department Manager Ms. Uchida and Deputy Manager Ms.

Burnicle were also in attendance), and she confirmed that during his visit to

Japan, Hockstader did not conduct interviews on any other subject than

immigration. (following the interview, I received a letter of thanks from

Foreign Press Center, Japan President Terusuke Terada). The entire interview

was recorded and I intend to disclose the content of the entire interview in

due course.

4. As stated in 1. above, this was an informal chat regarding 9/11 following the

actual interview itself. At no point did I draw the conclusion that 9/11 was a

conspiracy, and I clearly stated that the collapse of the Twin Towers could

not be judged to be a result of a controlled demolition. Rather, I stated I had

made my speech in the Diet from the stance that it was necessary to

investigate the origins of the “War on Terror” from the perspective of

assisting the relatives of the victims of 9/11, and in relation to the war in

Afghanistan and the provision of humanitarian assistance.

5. Furthermore, I have many American friends from various walks of life, and

have worked for many years to serve as a bridge between Japan and the

United States, including by providing assistance to former US POWs held

captive by Japan.

6. I currently serve as Director of the Research Committee on International

Affairs and Global Warming Issues in the House of Councillors, but I was

introduced in the article as “the head of the Research Committee on Foreign

Affairs”. Moreover, the article describes me as “a Brahmin in the foreign

policy establishment” of Japan, while in fact, as Director General of the

Democratic Party of Japan’s International Department, I am not involved in

policy matters. I find it totally regrettable that this kind of biased article

should be published in the Washington Post.